The Bears put their most high-profile player yet on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list Monday: two-time Pro Bowl safety Eddie Jackson.
Jackson did not test positive, a source said. Rather, he was in close contact with someone outside of Halas Hall who did. That means Jackson could return to the active roster in time to face the rival Packers in prime time Sunday night at Lambeau Field.
NFL players deemed close contacts must sit out five days, dating to the last time they interacted with someone who was infected. Jackson can still participate in off-the-field work. The entire league is under the NFL’s intensive protocol, so teams hold all their meetings on Zoom.
Jackson was not spotted at practice Monday, about four hours before the team announced it had put him on the list.
Ten days earlier, Jackson was asked about the coronavirus raging through the area.
“I feel like most of us, everybody goes home,” he said. “Especially me, like, I don’t go nowhere. I don’t go to stores. I don’t go eat at restaurants. I go from [Halas Hall], I stop and get gas and I’m in the house watching film. That’s kind of how I protect myself.”
He said his parents were coming to town for Thanksgiving, but he asked them to take a coronavirus test beforehand.
“It’s getting kind of scary,” he said. “The crazy thing about it is it affects everyone in different ways, so you never know how it may affect you different. But someone you’re close to or a relative or somebody else on the team, it might affect them totally different. . . .
“You see it getting outrageous. Especially in Chicago, you’ve just got to be more careful, man.”
A-Rob on red zone
After his agent blasted the Bears’ red-zone strategy on Twitter, wide receiver Allen Robinson said he doesn’t “really get too caught up in that.”
“Whatever’s called, I run what’s called,” he said. “I’ve said that since Day 1.
‘‘Hopefully in these next six games, we can get down there first and get some more red-zone opportunities. Then I should come away with more red-zone touchdowns.”
Robinson has only seven red-zone targets, which ranks third on the team. Tight end Jimmy Graham, by contrast, has 13.
“You’ve got to trust in your coaches,” he said. “You’ve got to trust and believe that the things they’re calling and dialing up are going to be successful. I have that trust in the coaches.”
This and that
Defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, who hurt his hamstring against the Vikings, was not present at the portion of practice open to the media.
† Punt returner DeAndre Carter, whom the Bears claimed last week, was moved from the exempt list to the active roster.
† Packers staffers and their immediate families, totaling about 500 people, will attend the game Sunday night as the team test-drives measures in anticipation of fans returning to the stadium.
